Dejavu
by Tsukitani
Summary: Ten years after Naraku's defeat, Kagome receives a visit from someone she never thought to see again. Could this be the answer to her prayers, or her heart's worst nightmare come to life? WAFFy, somewhat angsty feel-good piece on KagInuSess. COMPLETE!
1. Part One

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Kagome, or the no-doubt adorable children they would have together if the puppy would get over himself. As for Sesshoumaru.let's just say I'm working on an angle to get me what I want. if you review nicely, I may even share.  
  
** This will be a one-shotter, broken into three parts. **  
  
AN: Okay, I know I've got another fic unfinished, but I ran into a little bit of 'lack of inspiration' (I got this Inu/Kagome thing going on right now---probably a direct result of Sesshou overload), so decided this would be a good one-shot exercise to get the creative juices flowing again.  
  
**************************************************************************** ********************************************************************  
  
Deja-vu  
  
The insistent electronic whine of the alarm clock dragged Kagome out of a heavy slumber. A dreamless, heavy slumber---for once.  
  
It was a mixed blessing, that. On the one hand, she dreaded the images of memories past and wished for, for they reminded her of all she had lost and would never again find. On the other hand, she reveled in those glimpses of a life long gone but still longed for, of people and places loved and lost. It was her only way of reclaiming her heart---the only time she felt truly whole, despite the inevitable pain rememberance brought.  
  
Poking her head out from the top of the tangle of sheets she was wrapped in, Kagome squinted blearily at the alarm clock, noting with vague disgust the abominably early hour. Surely if the gods had meant for her to awake this early on a regular basis, she thought irritably, they would have reincarnated her as a rooster or something.  
  
Snorting at the ridiculous thought of herself clad in white feathers and a red coxcomb, she absently smacked the snooze button, silencing the cursed contraption.  
  
Flopping back onto the bed, she yawned and stretched her arms over her head until she hear the satisfying pop of her shoulder joints. Grimacing at the sign of passing years, she cast her thoughts out, drifting along on a list of all she had to accomplish during the day.  
  
Pick up her dry cleaning, run by the herbalist to restock a couple of things for the temple (and get a birthday gift for her aged, slightly crazed grandfather), and today was her day for teaching archery to a group of young children. All this had to be accomplished after work, of course.  
  
Lucky for her, she only worked part-time at the hospital. The rest of the time was spent at the shrine, manning the trinket booth, giving tours, answering questions.in general seeing that things ran smoothly.  
  
Kagome snapped her fingers, suddenly reminded of a new task for her 'to do' list. Check the rag sheets for signs of trouble---well, real trouble, not the kind brewed up for a circulation boost. Her main duty as miko remained the same as it did five hundred years ago: the exorcism of the odd demon or ghost. They were extremely rare in modern Tokyo, and were usually not very powerful, but it did happen from time to time. And just like that movie, the tabloids were indeed the best pipeline of information on the occult.  
  
Ten years and my life is still weird, Kagome lamented to herself.  
  
She always got so embarrassed whenever she had to go purchase those awful bundles of.well, 'journalistic creativity' was a nice way of phrasing it.  
  
But before all other tasks, Kagome had one burning priority. She had to acquire something more essential to her than air for breathing:  
  
Coffee.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Finally, Kagome thought in relief. Her muscles ached slightly from the extra workout she had received on the archery range. Today's class size was larger by a handful of children than it usually was. It seemed her ad in the newspaper had paid unexpected dividends, if her increased class enrollment was any indication.  
  
Kagome smiled in happiness at the thought of having the privilege of teaching more youngsters the sense of pride and peace gained through concentration and discipline---and the extra money wouldn't hurt, either.  
  
While she had been conducting her class, though, she had glimpsed a tall man arriving through the great red torii gate. She had noticed him avidly observing her small class of youngsters. Thinking to welcome him and perhaps inquire if he knew someone interested in one of the open spots on the archery range, she worked her way back along the line of students toward the center of the grounds, where she had last seen him.  
  
Kagome lost sight of his dark head while extricating herself from her students, but she thought perhaps he had wandered toward the God Tree. The majestic height of the ancient tree drew many to the shrine, and would be just the thing to entrance a newcomer. Perhaps he went there.  
  
Once Kagome was standing under the dappled shade of the tree, though, she was distracted by the memories washing over her in a wave of warm regret and bittersweet longing. All those years of companionship, adventure, friendship.and more.  
  
Inuyasha.  
  
A small scraping noise from the direction of the well house drew her attention away from her depressing thoughts, and she frowned. It sounded as if someone was in there. A sign on the well house doors clearly proclaimed 'Restricted access, for authorized personnel only'. Kagome fumed as she stalked toward the small, dilapidated wooden structure that housed her heart and her dreams. If anyone had dared to enter those doors and sully her memories.  
  
As she came to a halt before the sliding doors, a ferocious scowl marring her smooth features, Kagome was struck by an unwelcome tightening of the nerves and skin across the nape of her neck. A shiver worked its way down her spine as her senses tripped over themselves in loud warning. It was all she could do to maintain her focus as she registered an aura of danger so potent, the last time she had sensed its like was over five hundred years ago.  
  
What the hell, she wondered frantically to herself. What could possibly be so powerful in modern Tokyo?  
  
Kagome's eyes dated around the shrine grounds in search for any hint of where the youki was emanating from, but it seemed so close.almost as if it were literally on top of her---or in front of her.  
  
A feeling of dread gripped her heart, and sweat broke out on her palms. What if a demon had managed to come through the well? At the end, several demons had known about the Bone-Eater's Well, including Naraku and Sesshoumaru. After all, that was where they all met for the final battle, in that shadow realm of mist and magic, halfway between the past and the future.  
  
Kouga, Inuyasha, even Sesshoumaru and, surprisingly Kagura, had been ranged against Naraku. Kikyou had stood off to the side, uninvolved and stoic until the final moment, suddenly tipping the balance in their favor in a suicidal move that meant she had to abandon her revenge on Inuyasha, but also saved Kagome from being an ornament on one of Naraku's tentacles. On that strange battlefield created through some mysterious power of the Shikon no Tama, the revived miko had let go of her hate and saved them all.  
  
A bright thought suddenly bloomed in Kagome's mind that perhaps Inuyasha had finally found a way to traverse time, succeeding where she had failed.but it soon withered and died in the face of common sense. No, she shook her sharply, he had no doubt lived a long and happy life with--- Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat---Kikyou.  
  
Kagome shuddered with the force of the memories, the yearning to feel Inuyasha's arms around her once again, and firmly pushed them away. He was lost to her as irretrievably now as he had been five hundred years ago. Now because of time, and then because of Kikyou.  
  
That story was inconsequential to the moment, though. All that mattered was that, once the Shikon no Tama had been completed, Kagome had handed it to Inuyasha, bidding him wish for Kikyou's return so he would be happy, then she had been wrenched from his arms by the fingers of magic to find herself deposited within the musty, dank confines of the well house. Separated from her love by a chasm of five hundred years---and probably several lifetimes.  
  
None of this answered the current question of who---or what---was on the other side of the well house doors. She glared at the wood in front of her face and reached back, drawing forth an arrow from her quiver. She nocked it with cool competence to the bowstring. It wasn't a holy arrow, but it could still do serious damage to a demon if aimed at the right body part.  
  
Drawing on every lesson and observance ever gained from Inuyasha and Sango, Kagome stealthily eased her body just to the side of the sliding panels, rendering her form as small a target as possible if the doors should open unexpectedly.  
  
Pressing the side of her foot against the rough, weathered grain of the wood, she used the pressure to silently slide the door open a crack. Her hands tightened on the bow slightly as she paused, stretching her senses into the dusty, dim interior. When she sensed no movement from within, she opened the door just enough to admit her slight figure, taking care that her arrow, poised for release, preceded her.  
  
The sight that greeted her had her hastily dropping her aim and flushing in embarrassment. It was the tall man she had been searching for prior to her being side-tracked by the aura of youki she had sensed. Kagome noted it still had not faded.  
  
As Kagome moved gracefully over to the obviously lost newcomer, a welcoming smile tilting her lips, something about the man struck her as familiar, though she knew she had never laid eyes on him before.  
  
His looks weren't outstanding, though his lean face was remarkably handsome. His glossy black hair was cropped short in a stylish cut and he wore a dark suit which seemed to be the uniform of business men everywhere (though his seemed to be of the expensive, designer variety).  
  
Sunglasses shaded his eyes even though the inside of the well house was shadow-shrouded and murky. They prevented her from determining his eye color, but she had no doubt they were a nondescript brown. He was, after all, Japanese, though an exceptionally tall example of one of her countrymen---probably close to six feet. But, hey. That Chinese basketball player was over seven feet tall, right?  
  
No, she decided. It wasn't his appearance that made him seem familiar in some indefinable way. It was more his posture and demeanor that set off alarms of recognition. He was straight-backed to the point of stiffness, with an arrogant tilt to his head and a hint of predatory grace in his movements. An image tickled at the back of Kagome's consciousness, but she batted it away.  
  
She snapped her eyes back to the man with the regal posture and aggravating lack of sign-reading skills, abruptly realizing that she had been standing before him, staring and not saying a word in greeting. Her embarrassment was mollified only slightly by the fact that he seemed to have been staring as avidly at her as she had been at him. She opened her mouth to say hello and herd him out of the well house, but cut herself short when he shook himself slightly, then reached up to remove his sunglasses.  
  
Kagome had a sudden, horrible sense of premonition. You know that feeling when everything slows down, the world narrows to just one point in space, and you just know that something big is going to happen.  
  
Something that will alter your life forever.  
  
Her stomach dropped as another huge wave of youki rolled over her, making her dizzy with the force of something not felt in ten long years. Kagome's vision seemed to swim, and the image of the handsome man rippled like a mirage. The ends of his hair seemed to bleed and flow down his back in a fall of shining silk the color of moonlight. She blinked in confusion, horrified that her mind would play tricks on her, and she found herself once again facing a man with short, dark hair.  
  
Kagome swayed on her feet with the combined force of her still-screaming sixth sense and self-generated illusion, and a long-fingered hand shot out to steady her. She absently mumbled an almost incoherent 'thank you'. Her thoughts were frantically scrambling for a way to locate the demon aura she felt so closely it was burning her skin, and at least contain it long enough to evacuate the temple grounds. The shock of contact on her arm, though, had her raising her eyes to meet the concerned brown gaze of the man before her, intent on beginning the rescue process with him.  
  
Only she didn't meet brown eyes like she expected. In fact, they weren't even hazel or blue or green. Kagome gasped in shock and blindly reacted from instinct and deep longing, reaching out a hand to brush gentle, trembling fingers against the man's lean, pale cheek as if that soft, simple contact would shatter the vision before her. Solemn eyes with irises the color of molten gold met her stunned regard.  
  
The young miko just couldn't wrap her mind around the sudden appearance of eyes she had seen a thousand times in her thoughts, dreams, and memories, so she said the only thing she could think of, irregardless of the improbability.  
  
In a hushed, choked whisper, a single word born of sudden, fierce hope forced its way from the bottom of her heart and past her trembling lips.  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
**************************************************************************** ********************************************************************  
  
Sess: Woman, you should be working on 'Yume', not writing some meaningless drivel about my worthless mongrel half-brother and his wench.  
  
TT: I---  
  
Inu: 'Mongrel'?! *draws Tetsusaiga and swings at Sess* Say that again, you stick-up-the-ass pretty boy! You're just jealous Kagome's obviously still hung up on me!  
  
Sess: As if! *sneers and leaps easily away from Inuyasha's attacks*  
  
Kagome: Who says I'm still hung up on you, you immature boob? Sit, boy!  
  
TT: Children! Children! Watch the set destruction! (The prop department gets soo touchy if you scratch something. Sheesh.) 


	2. Part Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Kagome, or the no-doubt adorable children they would have together if the puppy would get over himself. As for Sesshoumaru.let's just say I'm working on an angle to get me what I want.if you review nicely, I may even share.  
  
** This will be a one-shotter, broken into three parts. **  
  
AN: Okay, I know I've got another fic unfinished, but I ran into a little bit of 'lack of inspiration' (I got this Inu/Kagome thing going on right now---probably a direct result of Sesshou overload), so decided this would be a good one-shot exercise to get the creative juices flowing again.  
  
Deja-vu  
  
An almost pained grimace spasmed across the handsome face of the man with her long-lost love's eyes, and Kagome felt that slim hope dashed. This was not Inuyasha, but he still seemed so familiar, somehow.  
  
Studying the spare, elegant lines of his face, even going so far as to trace the slender arch of one brow, Kagome took in the appearance of the man before her in small detail. The smooth, refined texture of his skin, almost milky white and flawless, rang distant bells of recognition. It seemed something was missing, though, some essential, defining characteristic that would proclaim his identity regardless of hairstyle or skin color.  
  
"You don't know who I am?"  
  
The question, issued in an unexpectedly deep baritone voice, startled Kagome and she jumped. Blinking, she wondered at the odd undertone of disappointment in his tone, almost as if he was hurt by her failure to know him. His wording implied that they had met before.  
  
Wracking her brain for any shred of a memory of a man with eyes the same glittering topaz as Inuyasha's, Kagome had to admit defeat. Flushing in embarrassment that she had forgotten someone who obviously remembered her, she began to shake her head. Her abrupt movement was halted, though, by the sharp narrowing of the man's golden gaze. Sensation shot through her body, nerves tripping on buried instincts urging her to flee. Something about the dangerous quality his gaze now held released a torrent of conditioned responses, adrenaline.and memories.  
  
Pain pierced the center of her skull, and her vision was overlaid with images of one of the most powerful creatures ever to walk among humans, who had tried to kill herself and her companion several times. Images of a demon lord with a ruthless nature, inflexible sense of honor, and a strange soft spot for a small human child.  
  
Kagome sucked in a deep breath and blinked unexpected tears from her eyes. Joy surged in her heart that she had finally found a connection to her life in the past---and it wasn't trying to kill her. Yet.  
  
"Sesshoumaru!" she breathed, hardly daring to believe her eyes.  
  
She waited for him to confirm her proclamation of his identity, terrified he would deny her suspicions and she would lose this new-found contact. When his gaze softened and he gave a slight nod, Kagome couldn't contain her happiness any further. Reaching up with both hands to hold his face between her palms, she levered herself as far up onto her toes as she could and planted her lips firmly against his. When she released his mouth from the exuberance of her greeting, she was once again faced with the familiar, ethereally beautiful features of the demon prince she had known five centuries ago, royal markings and all.  
  
It was an illusion to disguise him, then, she thought absently, not fazed that Sesshoumaru would be able to perform that bit of complex magic. The man could fly, after all.  
  
At the sight of the stoic, unflappable Lord of the Western Lands, wide-eyed with surprise at her unexpected action and a flush creeping onto his cheeks, Kagome could no longer hold back the bubble of laughter welling up in her chest. It burst forth in a silvery cascade of joyous abandon, shattering the tense atmosphere of moments ago.  
  
The relieved young woman abandoned Sesshoumaru's lips in favor of wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest and squeezing for all she was worth. She had no fear of harming him---only of making him so uncomfortable with her touch he would dice her into small cubes for her temerity. But, she reasoned, unable to make herself heed her inner voice of self-preservation, he wouldn't have sought her out with the obvious intention of her recognizing him if he had meant to kill her. Right?  
  
All doubts and fears of imminent blood-letting were laid to rest when she felt his hand tentatively pat her back before settling there more firmly. A small, distant part of her mind marveled that Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, renowned throughout feudal Japan as the most ruthless and feared of demons and staunch hater of humans, was hugging her. Higurashi Kagome, a human miko.  
  
Inuyasha would have an apoplexy if he were here to witness his half-brother touching his shard detector. At the very least there would be cursing, blood, and property damage. She grimaced to herself. Let's face it---with Inuyasha involved, there would probably also be police, Air National Guard and the Army.  
  
Kagome's laughter increased to the point of hysteria, and before she knew it, she was sobbing into the fine silk of Sesshoumaru's no-doubt designer tie, the cost of which could probably feed a family for a month. She couldn't make herself stop, though. It had been years since she had allowed herself the luxury of a good cry, and the feel of gentle strokes of comfort up and down her back, combined with the sound of a strong heartbeat in her ear and the scent of demon, so close to Inuyasha's uniquely spicy fragrance, broke down all resistance until she didn't want to stop crying. She deserved it, damnit, and there was no one in this time who could better understand all she had endured than Sesshoumaru.  
  
Everyone else was gone.  
  
A wave of loss and longing so acute she felt as if her heart had been sliced from her chest washed over her. She gasped with the pain of it, and was surprised when gentle hands pushed her back far enough so her face was disengaged from Sesshoumaru's chest. Thinking she had overstepped the bounds of personal space (duh!) and irritated the emotionally repressed youkai beyond repair, Kagome made to step back from the still-enticing comfort of his presence. A hand on her back stopped her retreat, though, and Sesshoumaru hooked a gentle finger under her chin to force her tear-washed eyes to his. The warmth in his golden gaze arrested her thoughts, and the gentle empathy and echoing pain made the sharp talons of grief clawing her chest fade into a bearable ache.  
  
Flushing in embarrassment, Kagome dropped her eyes from that knowing, probing gaze, suddenly bewildered by the normally cold taiyoukai's unexplainable warmth toward her. Whenever she had encountered him before, he was trying to kill someone or something---though to his credit, the last several encounters his targets had been mutual enemies, not Inuyasha and her companions. This compassionate, if obviously uncomfortable, Sesshoumaru was completely outside of her experience and she suddenly didn't know what to say or do.  
  
Kagome's shoulders drooped and she winced sheepishly at her outburst of emotion. She refused, however, to back down completely, and once again met his eyes in a locked battle of wills. Even though she was a lowly human (though the demon prince seemed to have softened his attitude somewhat toward her race), she still had her pride, damnit. So, tilting her chin up again at a defiant angle, she asked the question burning a hole in her mind.  
  
"What are you doing here, Sesshoumaru?"  
  
Kagome covered the faint tinge of hurt she felt that Sesshoumaru---though he had most often been an enemy, never a friend, and only at the end of their quest could he have been loosely termed an ally---had not sought her out until now. Ten long years without anyone who would truly understand all she had gone through, experienced, bled and cried for.and now, to find that Inuyasha's brother, a man who had fought at their side, had been here the entire time.!  
  
She didn't know why she had expected him to want to seek her out. Hell, after five hundred years, it probably was difficult for him to even remember her name, if he ever had remembered it, that is. After all, five hundred years ago, she had only been addressed by him as 'wench' or 'human' or, if he was in a particularly benevolent mood, 'woman'.  
  
She huffed in indignation at Sesshoumaru's obvious lack of a heart, and manners, and compassion, and finer emotion---hell, of emotion at all---and sense of loyalty.the list in her mind went on and on. She was unaware her sniffs of disdain had migrated into sniffling until the object of her furious mental diatribe was suddenly crouched down before her.  
  
He had to duck his head to get his golden eyes to meet her chocolate ones, no doubt an uncomfortable posture. Kagome was shocked that the great demon lord would deign to lower himself, and was certain she was about to be blasted by a cold lecture on over-emotional human females or some such nonsense. So, when he reached out an elegant hand to gently wipe away a tear that had escaped her control, the young woman was doubly shocked at his display.  
  
A wry twist of his lips, tinged with sadness and almost a smile, sucked her breath away. Kagome knew her eyes were huge, but she couldn't help it.  
  
"What?" he asked with an air of innocence, eyebrows raised slightly, though amusement colored the word and ruined the desired effect.  
  
"You---did you just.smile?" Kagome stammered incredulously. Her only response was a widening of that barely-perceptible smirk into something she would call a.grin.  
  
Ooohhh! She fumed. He's teasing me, the wretch!  
  
"Well?! When did you learn to smile?" she demanded irritably.  
  
"It's been over five hundred years, Kagome," Sesshoumaru reminded her gently, "even this Sesshoumaru can learn something in that amount of time." He paused mischievously (mischievously?!) and said with a sly look, "Even from humans."  
  
Not being able to produce a suitable retort to that teasing reprimand---and reminder of time's inevitable passage---Kagome instead turned her attention to the other, more important, question in her mind.  
  
"Okay, then. But you never answered my question about why you're here," she pointed out huffily, piqued she had once again lost a point to the insufferably arrogant demon.  
  
Instead of opening his mouth and explaining his sudden reappearance into her life, he held out his closed fist to her. Puzzled, Kagome simply looked at the striped appendage, silently filing away the information that it was his left hand---something she had last seen being sliced off by Tetsusaiga in front of Inutaisho's grave---before returning her gaze to his.  
  
She lifted a brow and said sardonically, "Congratulations, you have your arm back," she paused a beat then, "and this explains exactly.what?"  
  
Rolling his eyes slightly (just what exactly had he been learning from humans these past five centuries?), he turned his fist over and opened it slowly. As the lean, tapered digits unfurled, something bright and shining was revealed.  
  
Kagome found her heart pounding unexplainably in her ears, as if it knew what lay cradled within the palm of the demon's hand, before her mind could only hazard guesses. Breath lodged in her lungs as a tiny sliver of light, glowing feebly with its proximity to her holy power, reached her wondering eyes.  
  
A sob caught in Kagome's throat and she reached out a shaking hand to pick up the Shikon shard, marveling anew at how it glowed in pink-white purity at her touch. Raising tear-stained eyes to Sesshoumaru, she managed to choke out a single question before her throat closed with the force of her turbulent emotions.  
  
"How?" It was a whispered plea, a prayer for confirmation of her aspirations and dreams, a demand that her heart not be broken by false hope again.  
  
Just as surely as the shard lay in the palm of his hand, so did her heart, for this Shikon shard was the key to her happiness---but only if Sesshoumaru came by it in a very specific way.  
  
Eyes soft with understanding, the demon lord, once an antagonist to his brother's role of protagonist, spoke the one word Kagome needed to hear above all others.  
  
"Inuyasha," he said, the name pregnant with meaning.  
  
Inuyasha, Kagome breathed to herself. Inuyasha. She repeated the name in an endless glowing litany of hope and happiness, unaware her lips were moving in time to the chant in her mind.  
  
Inuyasha had given this shard to Sesshoumaru. To give to her, hoping she would go back through the well to him? Or, and her heart suddenly grew cold at the thought, had something happened to him---had he died?---and his brother was returning the shard to the Protector of the Shikon no Tama?  
  
Something of the growing horror of her thoughts must have shown on her face, for Sesshoumaru shook her shoulder to break her free from the downward spiral she had been riding into depression.  
  
"He gave this to me, to give to you to use," the demon lord assured her, then said hesitantly, "should you so choose, of course."  
  
For a split second, he seemed torn between a hope that she would use it, and despair of the same, but Kagome shook it off as a result of emotional upheaval and an overactive imagination. It was ridiculous, thinking Sesshoumaru would care one way or the other if she were around or not.  
  
"Is he all right? He's not hurt, is he? What about Kikyou? I thought he used the Shikon no Tama to make a wish? If he did, then how did he get this shard? Was it shattered again?" A truly horrifying thought occurred to Kagome, and she blurted out, "Did Naraku come back?!"  
  
Her breathless questions were halted by Sesshoumaru's cool hand across her mouth.  
  
"Be silent, woman!" he admonished, but his hold on her remained gentle. "Inuyasha is fine, as insolent and rash as ever," he assured the frantic woman under his touch.  
  
"Naraku has not returned, Kikyou is still dead," for which Sesshoumaru seemed immensely relieved, "a wish was never made on the Shikon," Kagome gaped in surprise at this revelation, "but it has been broken again."  
  
Kagome felt her shoulders slump with defeat, and all the boundless joy of moments ago drained out of her in a puddle of devastating disappointment.  
  
So, she thought to herself bitterly, I'm needed as a 'shard detector' again, nothing more, nothing less.  
  
Kagome: Ano, TT.do you think it's safe for you to be out in the open?  
  
TT: Huh? Sure. Why do you ask?  
  
Kagome: *pointing over TT's shoulder at Sess bearing down them* Because he looks pretty pissed about something.  
  
TT: Uh-oh. I forgot about his contract on 'Yume'. Gotta run! I hear my mommy calling!  
  
Sess: Woman, don't move a muscle! Where is Chapter 7?  
  
TT: Uh, the check's in the mail.?  
  
Sess: What human nonsense are you spouting now, wench? Have you, or have you not, finished Chapter 7? *steps close to TT and snarls threateningly*  
  
TT: *moves toe to toe with Sess* You don't frighten me, Fluffy! I control your script---that means I can make you do whatever I want, to whomever I want!  
  
Sess: Need I remind you, woman.you have a contractual obligation to 'make me' kill something in Chapter 7 of 'Yume'! *smiles evilly* Or do I have to call my lawyer?  
  
TT: *gasps in horror and backs up hastily* No, no! I'll behave! *slinks off to computer to work on stubborn Chapter 7* Damn idols and their demands. Don't they realize I have fangirls who are demanding lemon scenes-not battles? *grumble, grumble* 


	3. Part Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Kagome, or the no-doubt adorable children they would have together if the puppy would get over himself. As for Sesshoumaru.let's just say I'm working on an angle to get me what I want. if you review nicely, I may even share.  
  
** This will be a one-shotter, broken into three parts. For those of you who can't count: THIS IS THE FINAL PART!! **  
  
AN: Okay, I know I've got another fic unfinished, but I ran into a little bit of 'lack of inspiration' (I got this Inu/Kagome thing going on right now---probably a direct result of Sesshou overload), so decided this would be a good one-shot exercise to get the creative juices flowing again. *** THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO REVIEW! ***  
  
Deja-vu  
  
"What happened? How did it break this time?" she asked in a wooden voice made hollow with disillusionment.  
  
When Sesshoumaru did not answer, she raised bruised eyes to him and was caught off guard by the obvious conflict she glimpsed in his glittering golden eyes. She did not understand what he was warring with himself over. Indeed, if she had even a hint of a clue that his inner debate was over his own selfish desires to lie to her, to tell her some accident had broken the jewel, convince her to stay here where it was safe, where he could keep her safe.she would have no doubt run screaming---or more likely, shot him through the heart with one of her purifying arrows.  
  
The temptation was strong, and completely irrational, and for those reasons he fought against it with every ounce of his youkai pride. It was because it would be unfair to Kagome, though, and hurt her, that he fought against it with his heart and soul.  
  
She did not belong to him or with him---she had always been his brother's. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he had known for five hundred years it was the truth. He comforted himself with the knowledge that he had decades of memories of their friendship to fall back on once she was gone from this time. He could fondly remember the arguments, the jests (usually at Inuyasha's expense), the tickle battles between Kagome and Rin, holding his niece and nephews.  
  
He had no right to keep her here with him, no right to demolish her hopes and dreams, for he knew she could never truly be happy with anyone but his boorish half-brother. It was small comfort Inuyasha made her so blissfully happy (though that was still incomprehensible to him).  
  
"After you left, he held onto the Shikon no Tama, hoping you would return. Every day he would jump into the well, trying to reach your time," the brittle edge to his voice spoke of Inuyasha's frantically driven actions and obvious devastation.  
  
"He tried to come here?" Kagome asked, her voice strained with barely- reigned emotion. Sesshoumaru nodded and his lips twitched slightly at some remembered scene.  
  
"When he gave up on that tactic, he finally hit upon a brilliant idea," the demon lord paused for effect, mouth twitching even more to contain an obvious smile. "He decided to," Sesshoumaru leaned in closer to Kagome and dropped his voice to an awed whisper, "think of a plan."  
  
Kagome couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips at Sesshoumaru's unrepentant and uncharacteristic teasing.  
  
"No!" She answered in a scandalized tone, anxiety eased by the taiyoukai's teasing manner.  
  
Sesshoumaru reared back slightly, plastering a patently offended look across his elegant features and said in a tone of deep hurt, "Would I lie to you?"  
  
Swatting him lightly on the arm for his outrageous banter, Sesshoumaru stiffened. Kagome went rigid with horror that she had just had the temerity to strike the Lord of the Western Lands. She cinched her eyes tightly closed, preparing herself to feel the slash of claws or the burn of poison. Surely the demon lord would not let her effrontery go unpunished.  
  
When a few agonizingly long moments had passed, though, and Kagome did not find herself melted to a lump of miko slop, she cranked open one eye to squint fearfully at the youkai prince. The utterly arrested expression on his face had her popping both eyes open and breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
He did not appear angry, or offended, or even annoyed. In fact, he seemed to be caught between amusement and. fondness? For her? Kagome's bewilderment only grew when he reached out a hand to gently cup her cheek, thumb stroking softly along the curve.  
  
"I have missed you, Kagome," he said in a low voice strained with longing and affection---and steeped in memories.  
  
She leaned into his touch, wanting to erase some of the haunted shadows from his bright eyes.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked gently, hoping to nudge him into explaining his sudden bittersweet words, but her voice shattered whatever spell had held him captive and he shook himself. The moment was lost, and he cleared his throat slightly, dropping his hand to his knee.  
  
"I apologize for digressing from my explanation," he said briskly, firmly steering the conversational track back to the matter of the Shikon shard still cradled in Kagome's palm like the treasure it was.  
  
"As I was saying, Inuyasha decided to think up a plan for returning to you," Sesshoumaru's lips quirked with a ghost of his previous teasing smile, and Kagome's heart ached for his lost openness.  
  
"After ten years of trying various methods, he hit upon the only thing which had been proven to work before," he paused to eye Kagome meaningfully, watching with pride as the light of comprehension bloomed immediately in her liquid eyes.  
  
"The Shikon no Tama," she supplied confidently, mind racing with the implications and impact of having a jewel shard in both the past, and the present.  
  
Obviously, Inuyasha never made a wish on the Shikon no Tama, and probably shattered the jewel himself to extract a shard to give to her. But why had Sesshoumaru's given it to her and not Inuyasha? Was it to avoid meeting her in the future and creating some sort of time paradox---you know, the whole 'the universe will implode if you meet yourself' catastrophe? But, no, that wouldn't be right, because it would have been Inuyasha handing the shard over, not Kagome from the past---er, future. Whatever. So, did that mean something had happened to Inuyasha, rendering him unable to reach her?  
  
Kagome's heart chilled at the thought, though she recognized that a lot could happen in five hundred years. And Inuyasha was only half-human, so not as likely to live as long as Sesshoumaru had.  
  
"Kagome," the demon prince's voice brought her out of her furiously spiraling thoughts, "Inuyasha broke off this piece of the jewel and entrusted it to me until the time I could place it in your care."  
  
"But why didn't he give it to me himself?" she wailed the question uppermost in her mind, clutching at Sesshoumaru's sleeve in her desperation for assurance.  
  
His eyes softened, and all he would say was, "He wanted me to tell you that the choice is up to you, and he will be waiting."  
  
Kagome's heart seemed to stop briefly before resuming its normal rhythm again. He was waiting for her. He was waiting for her. Kagome. Not Kikyou. Kagome.  
  
The knot in her chest that she had carried around for ten agonizingly long years loosened, then released in a pent-up sigh. She suddenly felt lighter than she had in decades---literally. Not since before they had managed to defeat Naraku had Kagome felt so carefree, unfettered by the chains of worry and grief and despair that had weighed down her heart.  
  
A brilliant smile lit her face, making her seem to glow with joy. Sesshoumaru felt his heart hitch in his chest at the beauty he remembered so well, and he had to clench his fists at his sides to keep from pulling her into a tight embrace. Instead, he stood silently by as she rushed out the doors of the well house, calling excitedly to her family. He waited patiently for her return, even helped her settle her hastily-packed bundle of yellow backpack across her shoulders more firmly. He noted with amusement she hadn't forgotten the ramen.  
  
Enduring her tight embrace of gratitude and farewell, he it back the words he longed to say to her. It had taken him years to recognize her true worth, to realize that her uniquely gentle nature was not a weakness, but a great strength.  
  
It had always been too late for him to tell her how he truly felt for her, though---had been since before they had ever met. And he would never dishonor her or himself by trying to wrest her affections from his brother. They had created a bond of friendship and love that she believed was based upon the ties of family and loyalty---and he let her keep that perception. It was certainly the truth on her part. Besides, he had years of memories to look back on, poignant and bittersweet, humorous and embarrassing.and he was about to lose her again.  
  
She was merely human, he reminded himself, with the lifespan of that fragile and emotionally intense race. As he watched her being absorbed by the magic of the Shikon no Tama, he clearly remembered her contentment as she slipped peacefully off the mortal plane.  
  
I have no regrets, Sess, she had whispered to him.  
  
And neither do I, he thought, a small smile curling his lips, thankful for her happiness and that which she had gifted him with for so many years.  
  
"Be happy, old friend," he murmured into the darkness of the well bidding his memories farewell.  
  
As he was turning away, he was startled when a blue light flashed again and he found himself staring at Kagome once more, who was staring anxiously up at him. She looked almost exactly the same as she had seconds ago, with the exception of her clothing. Dressed in the traditional clothing of the miko, she had an almost-complete Shikon jewel hanging around her neck.  
  
"Did I time it right?" she asked worriedly. "This specific date-jumping thing is still new to me," she expounded, rubbing her temples as if she had a slight headache.  
  
When Sesshoumaru nodded his head but still remained mute, the little miko fisted her hands on her hips and glared up at him.  
  
"Why so quiet? Were you hoping to get rid of us?" She demanded irritably.  
  
A small head poked around from behind Kagome's knees, the same raven-dark hair as the miko obscuring her round, pink-cheeked face. The girl child was no more than two or three years old, but so closely resembled Kagome she could only be her daughter. Tilting her little face up to squint at the white-haired demon peering in shell-shocked wonder over the lip of the well, she caught sight of him and scooted out from behind her mother's knees to lift her arms imperiously.  
  
"Unca Se! Unca Se!" she squealed, chubby fingers grasping air in a silent demand to be lifted up by the man she knew so well.  
  
"Kaori," he breathed in awed wonder before leaping down gracefully to scoop the little golden-eyed girl up in his arms, "I didn't think I would see you again."  
  
Kaori's little brow puckered in intense concentration at this pronouncement, clearly puzzled as to why her beloved Uncle Sess would think such a ridiculous thing. She was right here after all, wasn't she? She had played youkai and taijiya with him just two days ago, hadn't she? (Though Uncle Sess said their games were a super-special secret from Daddy and Mommy.)  
  
She reached up a dirty hand to pat at a striped cheek before proclaiming, "Ka missu."  
  
"As I missed you, little one," the now dirt-smudged demon answered solemnly before breaking out into a rare smile. Tossing his favorite niece (his only niece) up into the air, he leapt gracefully after her squealing, giggling form to catch her mid-air and convey her safely to the well house floor.  
  
"Mou," Kagome grumped from the depths of the well, "a mother gets no consideration nowadays. You spoil her terribly, you know, Sess," she shouted the last up at the roof of the small shack, then continued her sub- vocal diatribe (certain Sesshoumaru could hear her---he was dog-demon, after all) while clambering up the ladder to find her daughter and brother- in-law.  
  
As she neared the top of the rickety iron contraption, a clawed hand reached down to help her over the side. Once she was safely deposited on the ground, Sesshoumaru did not immediately release her, but locked an inquisitive gaze on her.  
  
Kagome sighed and said, "I know, I know. 'What the heck are you doing here', right?"  
  
"That would about sum it up," he rejoined wryly, "I did not think to ever see you again." A hint of sadness came through the light tone of his voice.  
  
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I didn't know that you ever would see me again. Not here in the future, anyway," Kagome squeezed his hand lightly in apology for the emotional anguish, no matter how brief, she subjected him to and said teasingly, "Just consider me a bad experience of deja-vu." She chuckled then continued, "Inuyasha and I decided, in the interests of family harmony, to elect just Kaori and me as ambassadors for this 'first' trip. He'll come next time."  
  
Sesshoumaru sighed in comic relief, grateful he wouldn't have to endure his idiotic brother witnessing his current emotional upset. If he did, Inuyasha would never let him forget it, and youkai live very long lives.  
  
"But didn't you ever wonder where the kids and Inuyasha and I disappeared to all those times?" Kagome brought his thoughts back to her, "Or did you think ramen cups grew on trees in feudal Japan?"  
  
Comprehension finally began to sink in, and Sesshoumaru felt the relief spread throughout his limbs, calming his aching heart. He did not lose them- --he had simply been separated from them for a very long time.  
  
Chuckling in amusement at his own blindness, he held Kaori closer to his chest, inhaling her innocent scent, feeling the peace he had learned at the hands of a strangely non-judgmental human miko from the future and her rambunctious children return to him.  
  
Kaori endured this for a marathon time frame of about three seconds before struggling down from her perch to dash headlong out the door, squealing, "Birdie! Birdie!" The flock of fat pigeons pecking in the courtyard for scraps was startled into sudden flight.  
  
The adults paused at the threshold to watch her progress indulgently, making certain she was safe from harm.  
  
"I'm back," Kagome said softly, turning to the youkai lord keeping a protective eagle eye trained on her precious daughter. She smiled at him gently, thankful once again for his strong presence in their lives.  
  
Once upon a time she had viewed him as a ruthless and unfeeling demon, but now knew him as an affectionate---and overprotective---uncle to her children, tolerant (barely) brother to her brash husband, and beloved friend. No, more than a friend. He was family now.  
  
"Welcome back," he said in reply, tugging on her hand to bring her out of the well house into the sunlight.  
  
TT: *looks around shiftily* Okay. I think the coast is clear. Whew! Sess is really out for blood! Literally! Mine! I know I haven't finished Chapter 7 of 'Yume', but I had to get this Kagome/Inuyasha thing out of my system before I could return to my cruel manipulation of Sess's nature so he would fall in love with Kagome-chan. No appreciation!  
  
Inu: I appreciate you! *slides arm around TT's shoulders and winks slyly* After all, I finally ditched the dead chick, got one up on my prick brother, and got busy with Kagome! *grumbles* But couldn't you have put in some gratuitous---  
  
TT: Sshh! *slaps hand over Inu's mouth and whispers in horror* Don't give the Inu fangirls any ideas! I'm done with this fic! I'm trying to move on to gratuitous sex scenes involving your prick brother-er, Sesshoumaru---and Kagome now! Be happy with what you got, puppy!  
  
Inu: Fine! *removes arm and stalks offset* Stupid, stubborn wench!  
  
TT: I heard that! *animal roar from off set* Damn! It's Fluffy! Gotta go finish Chapter 7 of 'Yume'! Look me up there, okay? (P.S.: Lots of gratuitous Sess fangirl stuff guaranteed!) 


End file.
